Knitting process

ABSTRACT

A method of knitting on a machine with needles in two beds a shaped article comprising a first part including at least three tubular portions, which portions at a particular course of stitches merge into a second part including a single tubular portion comprising the steps, in either order of knitting the tubular portions of the first part on groups of needles on both neds so as to leave at least one spare needle on each bed between the groups of needles, knitting the second part by tubular knitting on three groups of needles of both beds leaving at least one spare needle on each bed between the groups, and including the steps of continuing knitting until the course of knitting immediately prior to said particular course, moving the needle beds to bring the needles into staggered relationship, receiving on a spare needle between each pair of groups in each bed a loop from yarn previously and subsequently supplied to needles of the other bed in the same course, moving the needle beds back to their original relationship, and continuing the knitting to complete the part of the garment remaining unknitted. A knitting machine for carrying out the method is also claimed.

United States Patent [151' 3,685,316 1 Aug. 22, 1972 Robinson et a1.

[54] KNITTING PROCESS [72] Inventors: Frank Robinson, Borrowash;Frederick Nunnerley Chell, London, both of England [73] Assignee:Courtaulds Limited, London, En-

gland [22] Filed: Oct. 23, 1969 21 Appl. No.: 868,801

[52] US. Cl ..66/64, 66/ 177 51 rm. C1. ..A04b 7/04 [58] Field of Search..66/175, 179, 60, 74, 75, 76

[56] 4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 464,118 12/1891 Granz..66/177 UX 545,479 9/1895 Holmes ..66/ 177 550,874 12/1895 Emerson..66/189 1,849,461 3/1932 Kramer ..66/177 2,004,699 6/ 1935 Krautkopf..66/64 3,115,760 12/1963 Pierce ..66/65 3,474,643 10/1969 Robinson etal ..66/176 Primary ExaminerRonald Feldbaum Att0rneyDaviS, Hoxie,Faithfull and Hapgood [57] ABSTRACT A method of knitting on a machinewith needles in two beds a shaped article comprising a first partincluding at least three tubular portions, which portions at aparticular course of stitches merge into a second part including asingle tubular portion comprising the steps, in either order of knittingthe tubular portions of the first part on groups of needles on both nedsso as to leave at least one spare needle on each bed between the groupsof needles, knitting the second part by tubular knitting on three groupsof needles of both beds leaving at least one spare needle on each bedbetween the groups, and including the steps of continuing knitting untilthe course of knitting immediately prior to said particular course,moving the needle beds to bring the needles into staggered relationship,receiving on a spare needle between each pair of groups in each bed aloop from yarn previously and subsequently supplied to needles of theother bed in the same course, moving the needle beds back to theiroriginal relationship, and continuing the knitting to complete the partof the garment remaining unknitted. A knitting machine for carrying outthe method is also claimed.

17 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDmszz I972 I 3,685.16

' sum 1 OF 3 7' l3 8 i ii; 14 V? y D O 0 6 O O O O 0 O O O O O 3 O O O OO 0 O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O 0 2 3 Inventor Frank RubinsonFrederick Nunnerley Chell orm'y P'A'IENTED M1222 1912 3.685316 SHEET 20F 3 1 rs t 3 A G I Q Q l 0 I I .0 0

000000000 B B.. o QQQI IOQI O O mmmcocomcamcamaf Frank Robinson Freder'j. c k Nunner-J Ch e 11 P'ATE'NT'ED M1822 I972 SHEET 3 0F 3 (D G) G)(D (D G) G G) (D (D (9 (D (D G G) Q G) 6) (D G) G (D Q G) (9 Q G) G) (-3(-3 l 1 (D c) Inventors Frank Robinson Frederick Nunner-ley ChellKNITTING PROCESS This invention relates to a knitting method, andisconcerned with the knitting of garments and other shaped articles on aknitting machine. Flat bar V-bed machines are mainly concerned, but asis well known, various configurations of knitting machine can be used toperform some similar operations, and the performance of the invention onother types of machine is envisaged.

There are two known methods of producing shaped articles in knittedfabric. In one of these methods flat or tubular knitted fabric is simplycut into suitable shape or shapes for one or more pieces to be securedtogether to form the article, usually by stitching together the edges ofthe piece or pieces. In the other method the component piece or piecesis/are knitted to the shape required by suitable increase or decrease ofthe numbers of stitches in the various courses-the process known asfashioningand then again the edges of the piece or pieces are securedtogether, usually by stitching.

In both these methods considerable labor is involved in making up, orsecuring together the edges of the shaped piece or pieces, and the seamsproduced are sometimes unsightly. Also in the first mentioned process aconsiderable quantity of fabric is usually cut to waste, sometimes asmuch as 40 percent of the total fabric used.

To reduce the amount of seaming it has been proposed to extend thesecond-mentioned process to produce all the component pieces for agarment in a single length of fabric, the pieces being joined by coursesof waste knitting which are cut away when the length is made up into agarment. The present invention provides a method of machine knitting asleeved garment comprising the steps, in either order, of knitting asingle tubular portion constituting a first part of the garmentextending from the neck to the underarm position, and knitting aplurality of tubular portions constituting a second part, to form onepiece with the first part, the second part of the garment comprising thebody and sleeves up to the underarm position.

According to one aspect of the invention a method of knitting on amachine with needles in two beds a shaped article comprising a firstpart including at least three tubular portions, which portions at aparticular course of stitches merge into a second part including asingle tubular portion comprises the steps of knitting the tubularportions of the first part on groups of needles on both beds so as toleave at least one spare needle on each bed between the groups ofneedles, continuing knitting until the course of knitting immediatelyprior to said particular course, moving the needle beds to bring theneedles into staggered relationship, receiving on a spare needle betweeneach pair of groups in each bed a loop from yarn previously andsubsequently supplied to needles of the other bed in the same course,moving the needle beds back to their original relationship, and knittingthe second part with tubular knitting on the needles which previouslyconstituted said groups of needles and said spare needles.

According to another aspect of the invention a method of knitting on amachine with needles in two beds a shaped article comprising a firstpart including at least three tubular portions, which portions at aparticular course of stitches merge into a second part ineluding asingle tubular portion comprises the steps of knitting the second partby tubular knitting using needles of both beds until the course ofknitting immediately prior to said particular course, dividing thestitches of the second part on to three groups of needles leaving atleast one spare needle between adjacent groups, moving the needle bedsto bring the needles into staggered relationship, receiving on at leastone of said spare needles between adjacent groups in each bed a loopfrom yarn previously and subsequently supplied to the needles of theother bed in the same course, moving the needle beds back to theiroriginal relationship, and knitting the tubular portions of the firstpart as separate tubes on said three groups of needles.

By the invention a complete shaped article, such as a garment, can beintegrally knitted virtually to its final shape so that little or noseaming is required. The wastage of cutting out shaped pieces and thelabor of making up are thus substantially avoided.

The invention can conveniently be carried out on a flat bar V-bedlatchneedle machine with a needle selecting mechanism, which can be arrangedto produce tubular fabric by knitting on one bed in one direction ofmovement of the cam carriage and on the other bed in the other directionof movement of the cam carriage. Such a machine can be provided with twoor more yarn carriers so that two or more tubular pieces may be knittedsimultaneously. Machines useful for carrying out the invention arereadily available from established machine manufacturers. Most flat barV- bed machines, for example, are provided with mechanisms whereby theneedle beds can be shogged or racked, i.e., moved laterally. Stitchtransfer can be accomplished by hand, using a narrowing handle, or byany of the several devices provided on many flat bar V- bed knittingmachines for this purpose. See for example, British Pat. No. 934,883,which describes a Stoll machine having intermediate receiver elements inauxiliary beds capable of lateral movement with respect to the mainbeds. By use of the invention, for example, a jersey could be knitted inone piece by knitting three tubular portions with at least one spareneedle between each pair of adjacent tubes to give clearance for theyarn carriers. The outer two tubular portions are of suitable diameterfor sleeves and the middle portion of suitable diameter for the body andafter a sufficient length of each tubular portion has been knitted toreach the underarm position two of the yarn carriers can be removed, andadditional stitches can be introduced on the spare needles. Furtherknitting with the single remaining yarn carrier then continues, toproduce the shoulder region of the garment as a further single tubularportion.

Shaping of the tubular portion of the second part of the article cantake place by transferring outer loops of the portion inwardly or byneedle introduction at the outside edge of the portion.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate exam ples of the use of the method'forproducing garments. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of a jersey showing the method ofconstruction by use of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the needles and stitch formon a machine for producing ribs at the ends of the body andsleeveportions of the jersey shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of the needles and stitch formon the machine during knitting of the body and sleeve portions of thejersey,

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the needles and stitch formon a machine during the sequence of joining a sleeve portion and thebody portion of the jersey shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the needles and stitch formon a machine during the sequence of widening an article or part thereof,

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of the needles and stitch formon a machine during a threedimensional shaping operation,

FIG. 7 shows an alternative method of producing ribs for the ends of thetubular portions of garments or tubular portion having a neck opening 6at the upper end of the garment.

Since both needle beds of the machine are required to produce 1 X I ribfabric, the short lengths of rib knitting 4 cannot be produced intubular form but are knitted separately as two flat strips for each ofthetubular portions, one flat strip being knitted first and then therespective yarn carriers 7, 8 and 9, knitting on the rear bed needles onthe left to right traverse and on the front bed needles on the right toleft traverse.

A suitable number of courses is knitted simultaneously in each of thetubes for the desired length of the body portion 1 and the sleeveportions 2 and 3 up to the underarm region 5 (see FIG. 1). Differentlengths may be knitted for thebody and sleeves if desired by retained onalternate needles of one bed whilst the other flat strip is knitted andretained on the alternate needles of. the other bed. This process isillustrated by FIG. 2 in which line A shows stitches laid on odd needlesof the rear bed (shown uppermost in each line of the Figure) and evenneedles of the front bed (shown lowermost). The needle selection is setfor knitting and a few courses are knitted for the purpose of fabrictake down. A'french welt is then produced, a draw thread being insertedif desired, and an appropriate number of courses of l X l is knitted.The front needle bed is then displaced to bring its even needlesopposite the odd needles of the rear bed as shown in line B and all thestitches are transferred to the needles of the rear bed as shown in lineC. The whole process is then repeated as shown in lines D, E and Flaying stitches originally on the even needles of the rear bed and theodd needles of the front bed, and finally transferring all the stitchesto the odd needles of the front bed. The operation illustrated in FIG. 2is carried out for each of the three tubular portions 1, 2, 3, usingseparate carrier for each.

At this stage there are six strips of rib knitting 4 carried in pairsopposite to each other on the front and rear beds. The cam systems areset for tubular knitting to'knit on the front bed needles in onedirection of traverse and on the rear bed needles in the otherdirection. Knitting is then commenced as shown in FIG. 3, each pair ofrib strips being knitted on as a tube,

' producing the three tubular portions 1, 2 and 3 from stoppingeither-the carrier 7 or the carriers 8 and 9 and putting the respectiveneedles out of action while the other carrier or carriers continueknitting. In FIG. 1 for example the carrier 7 has been stopped and theneedles carrying the body portion 1 have been put out of action when thebody portion has attained the desired length of the underarm region 5whilst the-carriers 8 and 9 have knitted additional courses to make thesleeves longer than the body. The body portion 1 and/or sleeve portions2 and 3 may be widened or narrowed during, knitting as will bedescribed. FIG. 1 shows sleeves which have been progressively widenedalong their inner edges 10 throughout their length, and to provide forthis it will be understood that at the original casting on of the ribportions a number of spare needles would be left between those for thesleeve portions 2 and 3 and those for the body portion 1, so that whenwidening has been completed and the underarm region 5 has been reachedthere is still at least one spare needle between the body portion 1 andeach sleeve portion 2 and 3. This is necessary to provide for thereversal of the carriers at the edge of eachportion without fouling theneedles carrying the next portion.

To provide the necessary narrowing of the. shoulder region, as shown inFIG. 1, the outer loops at each side of the garment are progressivelytransferred, in successive courses, inwardly to the next needle toreduce the width, the transfer being of one or more loops in each courseor every few courses.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method of joining the tubular portions 1, 2 and 3of the garment. In this method the body and sleeve portions 1, 2, 3 areknitted parallel to each other up to the underarm region 5 in the mannerdescribed in relation to FIG. 1, and at this point there is one spareneedle between the body portion 1 and each sleeve portion. FIG. 4 showsin line A the needle and stitch form of a part of the body portion 1 anda part of one sleeve portion 3 at this course, the spare needles beingindicated by letter s. The two tubes could be joined by transferring theloops of the sleeve portion laterally inwardly by one needle pitch, sothat the needles s carried the innermost loops of the sleeve portion 3,and then changing to tubular knitting, but this would leave a hole atthe underarm junction. To avoid this, before commencing the first courseof tubular knitting with one carrier, the needle beds are moved to bringthe needles into staggered relation. In the course along each bed, theneedles s are introduced to receive loops, and tuck stitches are formedon the two adjacent needles r and s of the opposite bed. This is shownin lines B and C of FIG. 4, the former showing the traverse from left toright, and the latter showing the traverse from right to left. The bedsare then moved back to bring the dicated in line D of FIG. 4. Insuccessive courses the outer loops at each side of the garment areprogressively transferred inwardly to the next needle to reduce thewidth as previously described.

Since the garment illustrated is shaped, i.e. fashioned, by reducing thewales progressively along the outside edge of the shoulder region, thewales in the sleeves and body portions continue parallel to each otherin the shoulder region of the garment.

An alternative method of shaping the shoulder region of the garment isto decrease the loop length of the stitches in the single tubularportion of the garment between the underarm position and the neck. Thismay be done progressively by gradually decreasing the loop length afterthe completion of each course of knitting as knitting proceeds towardsthe neck. Alternatively, decreases in loop length may be made after thecompletion of arbitrary numbers of courses as the knitting proceedstowards the neck. This method of shaping the shoulder region may be usedin conjunction with shaping by transfer of stitches described above.

When widening is required for shaping a garment knitted by the method,this is done by needle introduction in a manner similar to that justdescribed in relation to the needle introduction for joining the tubularportions. FIG. 5 illustrates such widening, which is usually requiredfor shaping the sleeve or body portions of a garment, needles beingintroduced on one bed only in each traverse.

In FIG. 5, line A shows the loops and needles of a portion of a garmentwhich is to be widened at the end of the yarn carrier traverse. Line Bis the same diagram expanded to duplicate the two needle beds, forconvenience. Line C shows the first stage of widening during the left toright traverse of the yarn carrier, knitting on the rear bed. As thelast needle in this bed carrying a loop is passed the two beds are movedto staggered relation as shown, and a tuck stitch is made on theadjacent needle a on the front bed followed by a loop on the next needleb on the rear bed. The beds are then moved back to their originalposition and the course is completed as shown in the lower part of lineC. On the next course the operation is repeated on the front bed,

making a loop on needle c and a tuck stitch on the adjacent needle b onthe rear bed, as shown in line D, and a further course of knittingcovers both the introduced needles b and c, as shown in line E.

The movement of the beds temporarily for producing the tuck stitchesduring needle introduction can be executed automatically by a controldevice (not shown) which also controls the length of traverse of theyarn carriers and the needle selection and cams of the machine. Suchcontrol means may for example 'be operated by a programming device suchas a punched or magnetized tape or other well-known device.

Three-dimensional shaping to produce figure fitting garments can beeffected by increasing the number of courses knitted in one part of thegarment compared with the number knitted in the remainder of thegarment. FIG. 6 illustrates the production of a roughly lozenge-shapedarea in a tubular portion of a garment with up to 100 percent increasein the number of courses in the area over the number in the adjacentpartof the garment. This causes the area to stand out from the plane of theremainder of the knitted fabric, and is applicable for example to a bustform on a jersey or like garment. In the drawing the needle tricks areindicated by the letters a to p, and 20 courses or part courses ofknitting are shown, indicated by the letters A to T. The

shaping is to be produced on the front of the garment, on the needles eto k. In the first course, shown in line A the yarn carrier traverse iscomplete along the rear bed needles but on the return traverse along thefront bed, needles a to g are selected not to knit, and the traverse isstopped when the loop on needle h has been knitted, leaving the loops ofthe previous course retained on the front needles a to g. The selectionis then set so that needles a to f will not knit, and the carrier isreversed so that needles g to p are knitted on the front bed, and acomplete traverse is again executed along the rear ned, as shown in lineB. On the next traverse along the front bed, shown in line C, needles ato h are selected to knit and the remaining needles i to p not to knit,and the carrier is reversed after knitting the loop on needle h, andneedles a to i are selected to knit, as shown in line D. This process isrepeated, taking in one further needle on each successive part traverseof the front bed needles before reversing until the maximum desiredwidth of the lozenge-shaped area has been attained, in lines J to M. In'subsequent courses the reversal takes place successively one needleearlier in each direction of traverse until in line S the reversal ismade after knitting the loop on needle j, and in the reverse traverseknitting is on needles a to i as shown in line T. The lozenge-shapedarea is indicated by the chain dotted line X and it will be seen thatwithin this area there are 20 courses knitted on the front bed needle h,which is in the center of the lozenge-shaped area, whilst only tencourses are knitted on the front needles a to d and l to p 4 in theadjacent part of the garment.

Instead of producing strips of rib fabric separately by half gauging, asdescribed with reference to FIG. 2, two strips of fabric of anyconventional stitch form can be produced simultaneously side by side ona machine and then transferred one to each bed. The beds can then beracked to bring the strips opposite to each other, and knitting can becontinued in tubular form as previously described. FIG. 7 shows in lineA two strips'of l X l ribbing produced side by side on a machine withtwo yarn carriers 23, 24, and each using all the needles in theappropriate part of both beds. When a sufficient length has been knittedthe beds are rackedto bring the front and rear needles in alignment witheach other and all the rear bed loops of one strip (in this case theleft hand strip 25) are transferred to the front bed needles and all thefront loops of the other strip 26 are transferred to the rear bedneedles, as shown in line B. The beds are then racked to bring the twostrips 25, 26 opposite to each other, or alternatively all the loops ofone strip are transferred laterally to place it opposite the otherstrip, and knitting is then carried on in tubular form. All the ribstrips required for a garment could be produced simultaneously in sideby side relation by this method and then be transferred either byracking the beds or by loop transfer to bring the respective stripsopposite to each other.

FIG. 8 shows yet another method of producing rib strips, usinga machinewith two needles in each trick 27. Line A shows one rib of l X lknitting produced on the odd needles in the tricks of the rear bed andthe even needles on the front bed. After a suitable length has beenknitted all the loops are transferred to the odd needles of the rear bedas shown in line B. A further 1 X l rib is knitted as shown in line C onthe even needles of the rear bed and the odd needles of the front bed,and this is subsequently transferred to the odd needles of the front bedas shown in line D. Tubular knitting then proceeds as before.

The scope of the invention for producing shaped garments is very wideindeed. A complete body enveloping garment, such as a cat suit" can beknitted in one piece, for example, by starting with four paralleltubular portions knitted simultaneously, the inner two to form the legsof the garment and the outer two to form the sleeves. Knitting would bestopped on the sleeve portion, and their needles taken out of actionwhen a suitable length had been knitted, and when the leg portions hadbeen knitted to a sufficient length they would be merged by rearrangingthe stitches to form the crotch of the garment and continued as a singletube for the torso portion, after which the process would be similar tothat described above for the production of a jersey. Sock-like ends canbe produced on the leg portions, glove-like ends on the sleeve portions,and an integral hood could be knitted on at the neck of the garment.

Openings, such as neckline shaping, or fastening openings to enable thegarment to be donned by a wearer, can be provided by reversing the yarncarrier and carriage at an intermediate part of their traverse, wherethe opening is required, in both directions of travel on one bed, andthe opening can be shaped as desired by lateral transfer of stitches orby needle introduction in the manner already described for otherpurposes.

It will also be understood that a single tubular portion may be divided,to continue knitting as body and sleeve portions, or the stitches ofthree tubular portions may be rearranged, by transferring some of theloops laterally to provide at least one spare needle, and introducingfurther yarn carriers to knit the transferred loops on as two tubularportions, while those loops on their original needles are knitted on asa separate tubular portion.

Thus, a jersey or similar sleeved garment could be started at the neckopening. The tubular knitting would be widened to form the shoulderregion and the stitches be rearranged on the needles of the machine toprovide a central group for the body and two side groups for thesleeves. Two further carriers would then be introduced and these groupsbe knitted on to form body and sleeve tubes. The widening of the garmentin the shoulder region may be performed by needle introduction or byincreasing the loop length of the stitches as knitting proceeds from theneck opening towards the underarm position or by a combination of thesemethods.

When the garment is finished the only making-up operation necessary isto stitch together the edges of the rib strips such as 4 in FIG. 1 orthe fabric strips such as previously described, and to add anyfastenings or neckline finishing strips or the like. A machine may becontrolled automatically to repeat the sequence of operations for avgarment, inserting a draw thread or knitting a strip of waste fabricbetween the end of one garment and the commencement of the next. Severalmachines may be controlled from the same control means to operate insynchronism, producingsimilar garments.

Machines operating in accordance with the methodmay be arrangedtoprovide patterning'and fancy effects by the use of tuck and floatstitches and other known methods that are associated with single jerseyknitting.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of knitting on a machine with needles in two beds a shapedarticle comprising a first part including at least three tubularportions, which portions at a particular course of stitches merge into asecond part including a single tubular portion comprising the steps ofknitting the tubular portions of the first part on groups of needles onboth beds so as to leave at least one spare needle on each bed betweenthe groups of needles,

continuing knitting until the course of knitting immediately prior tosaid particular course,

moving the needle beds to bring the needles into staggered relationship,receiving on a spare needle between each pair of groups in each bed aloop from yarn previously and subsequently supplied to needles of theother bed in the same course, 7

moving the needle beds back to their original relationship, and

knitting the second part with tubular knitting on the needles whichpreviously constituted said groups of needles and said spare needles. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein the tubular portion of said second part isnarrowed by transferring loops from the outer needles of the tubularportion inwardly to the adjacent needles.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the loop length of the stitches isarranged to decrease as the knitting of said second part proceeds.

4. A method of knitting on a machine with needles in two beds a shapedarticle comprising a first part including at least three tubularportions, which portions at a particular course of stitches merge into asecond part ircluding a single tubular portion comprising the steps 0knitting the second part by tubular knitting using needles of both bedsuntil the course of knitting immediately prior to said particularcourse,

dividing the stitches of the second part on to three groups of needlesleaving at least one spare needle between adjacent groups,

moving the needle beds to bring the needles into staggered relationship,receiving on at least one of said spare needles between adjacent groupsin each bed a loop from yarn previously and subsequently supplied to theneedles of the other bed in the same course,

moving the needle beds back to their original relationship, and

knitting the tubular portions of the first part as separate tubes onsaid three groups of needles.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein at least one of the tubular portions ofsaid first part is narrowed by transferring loops from the outer needlesof the tubular portion inwardly to the adjacent needle.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the tubular portion of said second partis widened by introducing needles into both beds and forming newstitches thereon.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the loop length of the stitches isarranged to increase as the knitting of said second part proceeds. I

8. A method of knitting on a machine with needles in two beds a shapedarticle comprising a first part including at least three tubularportions, which portions at a particular course of stitches merge into asecond part including a single tubular portion comprising the steps ofsimultaneously knitting the tubular portions of the firstpart on groupsof needles on both beds, there being at least one spare needle on eachbed I between the groups of needles,

continuing knitting until the course of knitting immediately prior tosaid particular course,

moving the needle beds to bring the needles into staggered relationship,

introducing the spare needles between the groups of needles used inknitting said first part,

receiving loops on said spare needles and forming tuck stitches with theneedles of said groups of needles adjacent said spare needles,

moving the needle beds back to their original relationship, and

commencing knitting of said second part with tubular knitting on theneedles which previously constituted said groups of needles and saidspare needles.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the tubular portion of said first partis narrowed by transferring loops from the outer needles of the tubularportion inwardly to the adjacent needle.

10. In a method of machine knitting a garment having an upper portionextending from a neckline through a shoulder region to an underarm lineand a lower portion comprising two sleeve sections and a body section,on a flat bar V-bed knitting machine, the improvement which comprisesknitting the upper portion as one piece of tubular fabric, and the lowerportion as three pieces of tubular fabric, said upper and lower portionsbeing knitted as extensions one of the other, with wales runningcontinuously from one portion through the other, thereby integrallyjoining said portions.

11. The method claimed in claim 10 and comprising I varying the numberof wales along the outer edge of the shoulder region to shape the upperportion of the garment.

12. In a method of machine knitting a garment having an upper portionextending from a neckline through a shoulder region to an underarm lineand a lower portion comprising two sleeve sections and a body section,on a flat bar V-bed knitting machine, the improvement which comprisesknitting said upper portion as one piece of tubular fabric, laterallytransferring the stitches in said upper portion on the needles of saidmachine so that said stitches are divided into three separate groups onadjacent needles and knitting on the stitches of said groups to producesaid three sections of said lower portion, with wales runningcontinuously from said upper portion through said lower portion, i51li1e r%iil ae kiini ei ifie 31 12 wherein the stitches are rearranged bytransferring groups of them to other needles of the machine.

14. The method claimed in claim 12 wherein the stitches are rearrangedby introducing needles between groups of needles carrying stitches andforming new stitches thereon.

15. In a method of machine knitting a garment having an upper portionextending from a neckline through a shoulder region to an underarm lineand a lower portion comprising two sleeve sections and a body section,on a flat bar V-bed knitting machine, the improvement which comprisesknitting said sleeve sections and body section as three pieces oftubular fabric having stitches on adjacent needles located at spacedapart locations on the beds of said machine, rearranging the pattern ofstitches to form a single group of stitches located on adjacent needlesof said machine and knitting the upper portion of said garment on saidsingle group of stitches with wales running continuously from thesections of said lower portion through said upper portion to integrallyjoin said portions.

16. The method claimed in claim 5 wherein the stitches are rearranged bytransferring groups of them to other needles of the machine.

17. The method claimed in claim 5 wherein the stitches are rearranged byintroducing needles between groups of needles carrying stitches andforming new stitches thereon.

1. A method of knitting on a machine with needles in two beds a shapedarticle comprising a first part including at least three tubularportions, which portions at a particular course of stitches merge into asecond part including a single tubular portion comprising the steps ofknitting the tubular portions of the first part on groups of needles onboth beds so as to leave at least one spare needle on each bed betweenthe groups of needles, continuing knitting until the course of knittingimmediately prior to said particular course, moving the needle beds tobring the needles into staggered relationship, receiving on a spareneedle between each pair of groups in each bed a loop from yarnpreviously and subsequently supplied to needles of the other bed in thesame course, moving the needle beds back to their original relationship,and knitting the second part with tubular knitting on the needles whichpreviously constituted said groups of needles and said spare needles. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein the tubular portion of said second part isnarrowed by transferring loops from the outer needles of the tubularportion inwardly to the adjacent needles.
 3. The method of claim 2wherein the loop length of the stitches is arranged to decrease as theknitting of said second part proceeds.
 4. A method of knitting on amachine with needles in two beds a shaped article comprising a firstpart including at least three tubular portions, which portioNs at aparticular course of stitches merge into a second part including asingle tubular portion comprising the steps of knitting the second partby tubular knitting using needles of both beds until the course ofknitting immediately prior to said particular course, dividing thestitches of the second part on to three groups of needles leaving atleast one spare needle between adjacent groups, moving the needle bedsto bring the needles into staggered relationship, receiving on at leastone of said spare needles between adjacent groups in each bed a loopfrom yarn previously and subsequently supplied to the needles of theother bed in the same course, moving the needle beds back to theiroriginal relationship, and knitting the tubular portions of the firstpart as separate tubes on said three groups of needles.
 5. The method ofclaim 4 wherein at least one of the tubular portions of said first partis narrowed by transferring loops from the outer needles of the tubularportion inwardly to the adjacent needle.
 6. The method of claim 4wherein the tubular portion of said second part is widened byintroducing needles into both beds and forming new stitches thereon. 7.The method of claim 4 wherein the loop length of the stitches isarranged to increase as the knitting of said second part proceeds.
 8. Amethod of knitting on a machine with needles in two beds a shapedarticle comprising a first part including at least three tubularportions, which portions at a particular course of stitches merge into asecond part including a single tubular portion comprising the steps ofsimultaneously knitting the tubular portions of the first part on groupsof needles on both beds, there being at least one spare needle on eachbed between the groups of needles, continuing knitting until the courseof knitting immediately prior to said particular course, moving theneedle beds to bring the needles into staggered relationship,introducing the spare needles between the groups of needles used inknitting said first part, receiving loops on said spare needles andforming tuck stitches with the needles of said groups of needlesadjacent said spare needles, moving the needle beds back to theiroriginal relationship, and commencing knitting of said second part withtubular knitting on the needles which previously constituted said groupsof needles and said spare needles.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein thetubular portion of said first part is narrowed by transferring loopsfrom the outer needles of the tubular portion inwardly to the adjacentneedle.
 10. In a method of machine knitting a garment having an upperportion extending from a neckline through a shoulder region to anunderarm line and a lower portion comprising two sleeve sections and abody section, on a flat bar V-bed knitting machine, the improvementwhich comprises knitting the upper portion as one piece of tubularfabric, and the lower portion as three pieces of tubular fabric, saidupper and lower portions being knitted as extensions one of the other,with wales running continuously from one portion through the other,thereby integrally joining said portions.
 11. The method claimed inclaim 10 and comprising varying the number of wales along the outer edgeof the shoulder region to shape the upper portion of the garment.
 12. Ina method of machine knitting a garment having an upper portion extendingfrom a neckline through a shoulder region to an underarm line and alower portion comprising two sleeve sections and a body section, on aflat bar V-bed knitting machine, the improvement which comprisesknitting said upper portion as one piece of tubular fabric, laterallytransferring the stitches in said upper portion on the needles of saidmachine so that said stitches are divided into three separate groups onadjacent needles and knitting on the stitches of said groups to producesaid three sections of said lower portion, with wales runningcontinuously frOm said upper portion through said lower portion, therebyintegrally joining said portions.
 13. The method claimed in claim 12wherein the stitches are rearranged by transferring groups of them toother needles of the machine.
 14. The method claimed in claim 12 whereinthe stitches are rearranged by introducing needles between groups ofneedles carrying stitches and forming new stitches thereon.
 15. In amethod of machine knitting a garment having an upper portion extendingfrom a neckline through a shoulder region to an underarm line and alower portion comprising two sleeve sections and a body section, on aflat bar V-bed knitting machine, the improvement which comprisesknitting said sleeve sections and body section as three pieces oftubular fabric having stitches on adjacent needles located at spacedapart locations on the beds of said machine, rearranging the pattern ofstitches to form a single group of stitches located on adjacent needlesof said machine and knitting the upper portion of said garment on saidsingle group of stitches with wales running continuously from thesections of said lower portion through said upper portion to integrallyjoin said portions.
 16. The method claimed in claim 5 wherein thestitches are rearranged by transferring groups of them to other needlesof the machine.
 17. The method claimed in claim 5 wherein the stitchesare rearranged by introducing needles between groups of needles carryingstitches and forming new stitches thereon.